Cupcakes:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter (1 stick) – softened
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup honey
1 ½ tsps ‘clear’ vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 ½ sticks butter – slightly softened
2 to 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp ‘clear’ vanilla extract
1 Tbsp honey
How to Make it:
The Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cupcake liners into metal cupcake baking tin – set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl – set aside. Place softened butter into a large mixing bowl – beat with mixer until butter is smooth. Add sugar to butter and continue to whip until fluffy. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, until mixed well. Combine milk, honey, and vanilla extract together. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to butter/egg mixture. Beat mixture with mixer until the cupcake batter is smooth. Spoon batter into cupcake liners (about ¼ cup batter per tin. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 – 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove cupcakes from tin and place on serving tray to completely cool before topping with frosting.
The Frosting:
Set butter out of refrigerator long enough to slightly softened (gives to slight pressure of thumb against butter stick). In a large deep bowl, use electric mixer to beat butter, vanilla extract, and honey together until smooth and fluffy. Sift powdered sugar then add to butter mixture. Continue to whip frosting ingredients together until smooth, yet stiff enough to hold its shape. Place frosting into piping bag and swirl onto top of cooled cupcakes (can use a heavy duty plastic food storage bag with small snippet cut into one corner of bag). If buttercream frosting has warmed too much to be stiff enough to pipe – place in fridge to chill about 30 minutes.
For The Honeybees – find Free Use Images of Bees on internet – (copy and cut) bee images and tape to toothpicks. Insert a toothpick bee into center of each cupcake.
Note: Buttercream frosted cupcakes can usually set out at room temperatures for several hours; then need to be covered and refrigerated for storage.